An aircraft traditionally comprises at least one engine, in particular a turbojet engine. Beneath each wing and for each engine, the aircraft comprises a reactor strut which is fixed to the structure of the wing and which extends below the wing and the engine is suspended beneath the reactor strut.
The engine is fixed to the reactor strut by engine attachments, in particular at the front by a front engine attachment and at the rear by a rear engine attachment.
The rear engine attachment traditionally comprises a beam fixed to the reactor strut, shackles fixed between the beam and the rear section of the rear casing of the engine, a rudder mounted in mobile fashion with a pivot connection on the beam and two thrust rods fixed between the rudder and a front section of the engine.
The two thrust rods, the rudder and the beam together define a primary thrust path between the engine and the reactor strut to accept the thrust of the engine when the engine is operating under normal conditions.
The rudder is mounted by a pivot connection about a rotational axis and exhibits, for each thrust rod, a waiting fail-safe which becomes active in the event that the primary thrust path should fail (i.e. when a component of the primary thrust path is damaged), in order to limit the rotation of the rudder in response to the other thrust rod. Activation of the waiting fail-safe creates an auxiliary thrust path between the engine and the reactor strut.
During the aircraft inspection, it is necessary to check whether one or other of the waiting fail-safe systems has been active during a flight. This inspection currently requires the checking of each component and a possible dismantling of the rear engine attachment, which is relatively time-consuming and results in the aircraft being grounded.